I'm fascinated that so many organic gardeners don't take time here to comment on the special months of the year that include the Harvest and Hunter moons. I'm not advocating that this become a recipe column, but we own it to ourselves and as testimony to others to acknowledge the bounty that we receive in this season.

My own answer to the question, what are you eating tonight?, includes a bowl of celeriac and potato soup, pumpkin nut bread and leftover eggplant parmesan. In an hour or two it might also include pumpkin pie (from a canned pumpkin mix, not from scratch ... I'm not much of a baker, I'm afraid).

I am bound and determined to feed myself and one other person, some day, from the fruits of this 1/4 acre village lot and would love to speak with likeminded folk who see (hope?) that we can use local, very small scale organic agriculture to improve the condition of our communities. Right now that begins with praising the bounty of our work.

What are you eating tonight?

I wish I could express a coherent personal guide to the elections, but it all boils down to this:

First Axiom of Organic Gardening - "Anyone who loves and maintains the soil will produce more bountiful and more nutritious food than someone who accepts gardening advice from the president of a petroleum company."

That's my first axiom. Cheney disputes this and relegates the thought to the status of mere "guidance", not even to that of a theorem. I say it's an axiom.

Sipping a glass of cabernet, had chinese takeout for dinner.

I don't take much gardening advice from anyone, except more experienced ORGANIC style gardeners. Although I'm open to tidbits of good info from many sources.

I harvested our brussel sprouts tonight and had a few with supper.very good fresh. Only had four plants this year,but it's enought for the two or us.

paulsha

Unfortunately, our dinner tonight had nothing to do with anything I grew in the garden. I did have some frozen green beans and some pickled green beans for lunch.

AcyHybrid -- I am very interested in the local, sustainable angle to growing food and I hope to see your name starting out some posts to this regard in the near future! (Me, I am more of a responder, not really original enough in my thoughts to come up with good topics on my own!)

Homemade and homecanned totally organic vegetable soup(more like stew though)way too much garlic to be eating at work but hey that's what they make tic tacs for right???Willow

Hmmm. I made butternut and pear soup. Not produce from my garden, but it was organic and really good!
Also, low fat and low carb for the diabetic Hubby.
Foxglove

Usually it is homegrown vegetables, whatever is handy, plus either brown rice or potaties. We eat very little meat. I am sad to see the end of the harvesting, it's been great to just go to the garden and pick what is handy. Now I have to find our supper in the freezer and on the canning shelves. We hope to have enought to last till January or February next year.

debusch
Busch Garden, Jones, MI
where the flowers grow.

OK, all I had was toast. But I had to cram it in between a care conference at my father's nursing home and the final exam at puppy kindergarten. But it was home-made bread!

Tonight it will be creamy pasta with cheese (a yogurt, garlic cheese sauce) and broccoli and french bread. Only the garlic will be from the garden, but most of the ingredients are organic. All winter long we eat salad from the cold frames, usually on weekends since it's too dark and cold to pick it when I get home from work or before I leave in the morning. But there are beans and chard in the freezer and still a few tomatoes and peppers ripening in the closet. Onions and garlic tucked away in the garage--the garlic will last until it sprouts by which time there will be green garlic. Pickled beets on the shelf. Mexican oregano in a pot in the kitchen window.

I miss the summer, too. It's like having the world's largest pantry. Need something? I go outside and pick it. Makes me feel truly wealthy.

I would love to be able to feed us completely with my garden. OK, maybe I'd have to trade something for the wheat for bread and pasta, and cat food for the cats (they eat a raw meat diet with some grated ccarrot from the gard mixed in and are looking pretty good for the geriatric cat club).

Tonight we had homemade pizza -- from as scratch as you can get without growing your own wheat, and cultivating your own yeast.

I have long since pulled the last morsel of food from my garden. I'm trying to leave the very last 8 carrots in the ground so I'll have seed plants next year, but it's DIFFICULT. It helps that I've piled chopped leaves on them... but I know where they are.

Why is it so difficult to leave the carrots in the ground? WHY???? (Wait... the woody, bland ones in the fridge, from the store... that's why...)

I miss being able to pull my dinner from the ground, or pluck it from the vine.

toadfriend,

Creamy Pasta Sauce made with yogurt?

Chard in the freezer? :O

Sounds wonderful. Care to share recipe/info? :8}

OK, we had little homemade pizzas on english muffins. Since my 19 year old cooked while I was at the polls, I won't complain. His contributions are getting less as he gets older. Besides it was nice to eat wnen I got home late instead of being faced with cooking yet! Tonight we'll be having a nice stir fry I think!

BG

browngorker:

The creamy pasty with cheese recipe came years ago from a little paperback cookbook by Nikki and David Goldbeck. Natually we've changed it over the years. Now it goes like this:

1-3 cloves garlic
a bit of olive oil
3 cups plain yogurt
1 c. grated romano cheese
1/4 tsp oregano
1-2 tsp dried basil
paprika
roasted red bell peppers (optional)
chopped green onions

Lightly saute the garlic in the oil or put the garlic in a microwavable bowl and wave for 1 minute on 10% power. (you get the idea.) Mix garlic, yogurt, cheese, oregano, basil and peppers if desired. Either set the bowl at the back of the stove where it will gently warm as the pasta cooks or microwave it very carefully on low. If it gets too hot the yogurt will separate and curdle. ICK. You could also heat it in a double boiler. Stir often while heating to mix in the cheese and prevent curdling.

Cook some pasta, drain and mix with the cheese mixture a little at a time to avoid curdling. Top with paprika and green onions.


The frozen chard happens like this:
I always plant more chard than we can eat, so about once a week I cut it back and freeze it.

Wash chard. Chop. Stir fry in wok with a little olive oil until it wilts, about 3 minutes. I put the top on to encourage wilting. Put in colander and rinse quickly with cold water to chill. Squeeze out water and pack in pint freezer bags and freeze. One pint bag is about 4 servings, almost too much for my husband and I, but not quite. (We are enthusiastic chard eaters.)

The chard is great then reheated as a side dish (add onion and garlic) or mixed with pasta and feta cheese for a main dish.

I hope this made sense. Please let me know if you have questions. And please enjoy.

tf